After hip surgery, a hip abduction brace is commonly worn to hold the upper legs of the patient at a fixed abduction angle during the rehabilitation period. The abduction angle is the angle between the axis of the upper leg and a vertical centerline between the legs. The brace is worn to prevent the upper legs from moving toward each other. By holding the legs at an abduction angle of about 15.degree. to 20.degree. during rehabilitation, hip dislocation can be prevented.
A brace, known as the Pehr hip abduction splint, has been used in the past to satisfy the need for a post-operative brace for holding the legs of a patient at a desired abduction angle following hip surgery. The Pehr hip abduction splint includes a pair of large U-shaped cuffs adapted for attachment to the insides of the patient's upper legs, and a complex rigid spreader mechanism secured between the cuffs. The spreader mechanism includes a vertically extending threaded shaft carried on a metal plate to which two pairs of pivot arms are attached. Rotation of the shaft pivots the two pairs of arms to adjust the amount of spacing between the cuffs. This permits adjustment of the brace to match patient size. The spreader mechanism is rotatably secured to each cuff so that the cuffs can swing through a small abduction angle. Neither cuff can rotate through an angle perpendicular to the plane of the spreader mechanism. The Pehr hip abduction splint is useful in maintaining a hip abduction angle for patients of various sizes, but the splint has a number of disadvantages overcome by the present invention. The Pehr splint is expensive primarily because of the complex multi-component spreader mechanism. It also adds to the weight of the splint. In addition, the rigidity of the splint prevents the patient from walking during the post-operative period. Therefore, the brace inhibits early ambulation and use in transferring patients following hip surgery.